1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric mail (e-mail) transferring apparatus for transferring a received e-mail. The present invention also relates to an e-mail transferring method for transferring a received e-mail.
2. Description of the Invention
In accordance with the recent widespread use of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PC) and the Internet, data receiving and transmitting through e-mails are generally carried out. This data must be a text format. Due to this, binary data itself, which is used in a general PC, can be neither received nor transmitted.
In order to transmit binary data through the e-mail, binary data is converted to text data to be appended to the e-mail. For data conversion, there are used conversion methods such as base 64, uuencode, etc.
In accordance with the development of such a technique and a mobile communication technique, various types of portable digital assistants (hereinafter referred to as PDA) equipped with various kinds of application are used, and e-mail data, to which data prepared by the application is appended, is frequently exchanged.
However, even if the PDA can receive the e-mail, it is impossible to confirm the content of the appended file through the PDA when the application corresponding to the appended file of the e-mail is not mounted to the PDA. It is extremely difficult to mount all kinds of application to the PDA from the technical and economical viewpoints. In a state that the appended file cannot be confirmed, the reception of the e-mail with the appended file results in a wasteful use in a memory and charges for a network.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electric mail transferring apparatus capable of effectively transferring the electric mail in accordance with the performance and environment of an apparatus used in a transfer destination.
Also, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric mail transferring apparatus capable of transferring the e-mail to a transfer destination even in a case where an apparatus used in the transfer destination cannot receive the electric mail.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric mail transferring method for effectively transferring an electric mail in accordance with the performance and the environment of an apparatus used in a transfer destination.
Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electric mail transferring method for transferring an electric mail to a transfer destination even in a case where an apparatus used in the transfer destination cannot receive the electric mail.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring apparatus comprising:
mail receiving means for receiving an electric mail;
deleting means for deleting an appended file portion from the electric mail; and
transferring means for transferring the electric mail from which the appended file is deleted.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring apparatus comprising:
mail receiving means for receiving an electric mail;
processing means for providing a process in accordance with a kind of appended file included in the electric mail; and
transferring means for transferring the electric mail.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring apparatus comprising:
mail receiving means for receiving an electric mail;
processing means for providing a process in accordance with an environment of a transfer destination to data of the electric mail; and
transferring means for transferring the electric mail.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring apparatus comprising:
mail receiving means for receiving an electric mail;
sender information obtaining means for obtaining sender information from the electric mail;
processing means for providing a process in accordance with transfer process information corresponding to the obtained sender information; and
transferring means for transferring the electric mail to a transfer destination corresponding to the obtained sender information.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring method comprising the steps of:
receiving an electric mail;
deleting an appended file portion from the electric mail; and
transferring the electric mail from which the appended file is deleted.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring method comprising the steps of:
receiving an electric mail;
providing a process in accordance with a kind of appended file included in the electric mail; and
transferring the electric mail.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring method comprising the steps of:
receiving an electric mail;
providing a process in accordance with an environment of a transfer destination to data of the electric mail; and
transferring the electric mail.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric mail transferring method comprising the steps of:
receiving an electric mail;
obtaining sender information from the electric mail;
providing a process in accordance with transfer process information corresponding to the obtained sender information; and
transferring the electric mail to a transfer destination corresponding to the obtained sender information.